The sister of missing Maui woman, Hana Kobayashi, says she is unhappy with police’s decision this week to declare Kobayashi a “voluntary missing person” after she was seen on surveillance cameras crossing into Mexico.
Speaking to NBC News on Tuesday, Sidney Kobayashi said authorities did just that She refused to show her family the video footage This was confirmed by Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell this week.
“We are more confused and frustrated than anything else right now,” Sidney told the media.
The family lawyer who appeared alongside Sidney in the interview agreed.
“they I just came to this conclusion “Without showing (the family) any footage,” Sarah Azari said, wondering how police came to the conclusion that Kobayashi did not appear to be in danger or the victim of a crime.
“It takes a lot of research and investigation for us to be able to say it’s voluntary.”
Hana Kobayashi mysteriously disappeared after failing to catch a connecting flight.
Sydney Kobayashi/Facebook
Sydney told NBC that she fears her sister is a victim of human trafficking, and believes that just because she appears alone does not mean that someone is not controlling her from afar.
Meanwhile, the administration defended its decision not to release the footage.
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“Investigators noted that prior to leaving Maui, Kobayashi expressed a desire to stay away from modern contact,” they wrote in a letter. statement.
“It’s still the LAPD Taking into account privacy concerns They added, making sure that all investigation procedures are carried out within the limits of legal and ethical standards.
On Monday, McDonnell told reporters that Kobayashi, 30, crossed the border on foot through a pedestrian tunnel at the San Ysidro entry point on Nov. 12, just four days after traveling by plane from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland.
He said they did not believe she was in danger and would suspend the search on their end.
“She has a right to her privacy and we respect her choices, but we also understand the concern her loved ones have for her,” McDonnell told reporters, while urging Kobayashi to contact her worried family. “A simple message that can reassure those who care.”
McDonnell added that if she returned to the United States, law enforcement would be notified.
Kobayashi flew out of Maui on November 8, bound for upstate New York. She never boarded her connecting flight from Los Angeles International Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport on the same day.
Hana Kobayashi was spotted arriving at Los Angeles Airport on November 8.
Sydney Kobayashi/Facebook
She told her family that she would sleep at the airport that night.
Over the next two days, she was spotted twice at an upscale Los Angeles mall, sending a number of mysterious and disturbing text messages to family and friends. She said in those text messages that she believed someone might be trying to steal her identity and money, and that she did not feel safe.
On November 12, the Kobayashi family filed a missing person’s report, not knowing that they were crossing the border into Mexico that day.
On November 25, a heartbreaking layer was added to the mystery, when Kobayashi’s father, Ryan Kobayashi, was found dead outside a business near Los Angeles Airport.
Ryan Kobayashi, center, holds a photo of his missing daughter Hana Kobayashi outside Crypto.com Plaza, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Los Angeles.
Damian Dovarganis/Associated Press
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office determined he died by suicide. He had traveled to California 13 days earlier to search for this daughter, and Kobayashi’s aunt, Larry Pidgeon, said she believed he “died of a broken heart.”
“Being on the streets and seeing the possibilities of where his daughter could be. No sleep. Speculative rumors swirling around. “It took a toll on him,” she said at the time.
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